Nigel Bates
Encyclopedia
Nigel Bates is a fictional character
from the BBC
soap opera
EastEnders
, played by Paul Bradley
from 1992 to 1998. Introduced in 1992 by Leonard Lewis
, the character was incorporated gradually and brought back as a regular following a brief stint due to a popular reception. He was depicted as a lovable loser and a nerd. Bradley quit the role and Nigel was written out of the serial in April 1998 and was given a happy ending. The door was left open for a possible future return.
. This causes trouble between Nigel and Nick when Nick bullies Nigel, jealous of Dot's friendship with him.
In 1993, he falls in love with Debbie Tyler
. Debbie is estranged from her abusive husband, Liam Tyler; however, Liam returns in 1993 to reunite with Debbie and visit their young daughter, Clare
. He reacts with fury when he realises Nigel is seeing Debbie and bullies Nigel and Debbie in an attempt to split them up. Eventually, Liam is firghtened away by Grant. Nigel and Debbie marry in 1994 and are happy until 1995, when Debbie is killed in a hit and run
accident. Nigel is devastated for some time. Liam returns and fights Nigel for custody of Clare but is unsuccessful because of his history of violent behaviour towards Debbie; Nigel legally adopts her.
Following a long period of mourning, Nigel grows close to Lorraine Wicks
and attempts to ignite a relationship. This goes awry as Lorraine does not return Nigel's romantic feelings and is instead attracted to Grant, which deeply hurts Nigel. In 1997, he meets Julie Haye
, Clare's school teacher, who occasionally dropped in to Nigel's video shop to rent French films. Their friendship blossoms into romance but Nigel remain reticent believing he is tarnishing Debbie's honour. He almost loses Julie after she announces she is moving to Scotland, but on the night of her departure, Nigel sees sense and pledges his love for Julie and in April 1998, he and Clare leave Walford for Scotland to be with Julie and her son, Josh.
Dot occasionally visits Nigel off-screen. Clare returns to Walford in February 2008 to stay with Dot. Nigel is meant to visit her in July 2008, but does not arrive. This upsets Clare and she confides in Bradley Branning
that her and Nigel's relationship had become strained in her time away from Walford. According to Clare, Nigel had transferred his affections to Julie's son Josh as he struggled to cope with Clare's teenage dalliances. In October 2009, Pat reveals that Nigel had suffered a heart attack and Dot goes to visit him.
took a tentative approach to introducing new characters in 1992. Most were introduced gradually, making an initial appearance and then joining the programme full-time a couple of months later. This allowed the producers and writers to create new characters and see them brought to life by the actors before committing them to a longer contract. Characters introduced in this way included Mandy Salter
(Nicola Stapleton
), Christine Hewitt
(Lizzie Power) and Nigel Bates, played by Paul Bradley
.
Nigel first appeared in March 1992 as a friend of established characters Grant
(Ross Kemp
) and Phil Mitchell
(Steve McFadden
), when he came to Walford and bought Frank Butcher
's (Mike Reid
) Mercedes
. After a successful first appearance, Nigel moved to the soap's setting permanently later in the year following the death of his mother and became the lodger of Dot Cotton (June Brown
).
Paul Bradley has discussed his casting in Larry Jaffee's book, Albert Square & Me: The Actors of Eastenders, conducted in 1994: "I was only supposed to do three episodes and I think they just liked the character. Nigel is kind of light and funny and arrived just after Gill [Fowler] had died of AIDS
and the show was accused of being a bit gloomy. I came back for one more episode and then I've been back ever since."
Bradley has described Nigel as "harmless and amiable ... I suppose he's a bit of a wallie. Nigel is very well-meaning. He was best mates at school with Phil and Grant. Where they would use their fists, he would use jokes to get out of trouble." Author Kate Lock has described him as "a lovely, lovely man with two flaws: his inability to say 'no' to a fry-up and his faith in Grant Mitchell." Lock suggested that Nigel and Grant were diametrically opposed personalities. Lock added, "Nigel was overweight, shy, had the world's worst taste in shirts and ties and sported a mop of shaggy curls reminiscent of 70s footballers, so it wasn't often he found success with the opposite sex, although women were drawn to his gentleness and humour more than he realised." Author Rupert Smith classified Nigel as a "soft touch" character, the type of characters who were "permenently confused, sexually bungling men [...] These poor souls exist to be trampled, disappointed and taken for a ride by any crook or schemer that crosses their path."
In 1993, two characters central to Nigel's narrative were introduced: A love-interest Debbie Tyler
(Nicola Duffett
) and her daughter Clare (Gemma Bissix
). Their introduction stemmed around a storyline focusing on spousal abuse, when it was revealed that Debbie was being abused by her estranged husband Liam Tyler (Francis Magee). Nigel and Debbie's eventual marriage was the focus of EastEnders' celebratory episode on 12 July 1994, which marked the show's 1000th episode. EastEnders' writer Colin Brake
has selected it as 1994's episode of the year. Off-screen the show's Series Producer Barbara Emile
decided to mark the 1000th episode with a celebration and the wedding of Nigel and Debbie was chosen as the event. It was scripted to be a happy occasion in the soap, with Debbie and Nigel's ceremony going ahead despite threats of intrusion from Liam. The Bateses happiness was short-lived on-screen, as in 1995, Debbie's actress Nicola Duffet requested to be written out of the soap; Debbie was killed off in the serial leaving Nigel a grieving widower, fighting for custody of his step daughter, Clare.
In December 1996, it was announced that Bradley decided to quit EastEnders for fear of being typecast as a nerd and "lovable loser". He was the third senior cast member to quit in as space of two months, following the announced departures of Jacqueline Leonard
and Paul Nicholls
who played Lorraine
and Joe Wicks
. Bradley said, "I have made a decision about leaving EastEnders and I have told the BBC about it. I know it is regular work and you are in the public eye, but it is time to move on. Much as I love playing Nigel, I would not like people to think that was all I did. I did a lot of work before EastEnders and I will after. I don't want to be like some people who've been in [ITV soap opera] Coronation Street
for 20 years - I'm much too restless." A BBC insider commented, "It's a real blow that Paul wants to go, but we hope that he doesn't close the door altogether. It's very worrying that so much of the top talent is wanting out of Albert Square."
The character remained on-screen until April 1998 and was given a "happy ending", leaving to begin a new life with a new found love Julie Haye
(Karen Henthorn
), allowing for a future return. Henthorn has suggested that because Nigel was "such a popular character", and because he had such an unsuccessful love life throughout the course of the show, the producers of EastEnders felt that the viewing public would not want him to have anything other than a "happy ending".
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
from the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
soap opera
Soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on radio or as television programming. The name soap opera stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers, such as Procter & Gamble,...
EastEnders
EastEnders
EastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
, played by Paul Bradley
Paul Bradley (actor)
Paul Bradley is an English actor. He is best known for playing Nigel Bates in the BBC1 soap opera EastEnders from 1992 to 1998 and Elliot Hope in the BBC medical drama series Holby City since 2005....
from 1992 to 1998. Introduced in 1992 by Leonard Lewis
Leonard Lewis
Leonard Jack Lewis was a British producer and director. He was most active in television. He was the Executive/Series Producer for BBC's EastEnders during the early 1990s, though he had success with many other television programmes for both the BBC and ITV...
, the character was incorporated gradually and brought back as a regular following a brief stint due to a popular reception. He was depicted as a lovable loser and a nerd. Bradley quit the role and Nigel was written out of the serial in April 1998 and was given a happy ending. The door was left open for a possible future return.
Storylines
Nigel attended school with Phil and Grant Mitchell and starts frequenting the Mitchells' home town of Walford in 1992, before finally moving there himself following the death of his mother later that year. He lodges with Dot Cotton and is known in the community for his extravagant shirts and ties, and his mop of shaggy curly hair. Dot comes to think of Nigel as the son she hever had because he is the complete opposite of her own son NickNick Cotton
Nick Cotton is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders played by John Altman on a recurring basis from the soap's debut episode in February 1985, through to his last appearance to date in 2009. Nick is the son of characters Charlie and Dot Cotton, and the father of Ashley and...
. This causes trouble between Nigel and Nick when Nick bullies Nigel, jealous of Dot's friendship with him.
In 1993, he falls in love with Debbie Tyler
Debbie Bates
Debbie Bates is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actress Nicola Duffett from 1993 to 1995. She was introduced as a love-interest for Nigel Bates, but was killed-off in 1995 on Duffett's request.-Storylines:Debbie first appears in Walford in May 1993 as a friend...
. Debbie is estranged from her abusive husband, Liam Tyler; however, Liam returns in 1993 to reunite with Debbie and visit their young daughter, Clare
Clare Tyler
Clare Bates is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Gemma Bissix. Bissix originally played the character as a schoolgirl from 1993 to 1998. She left the serial with her screen stepfather Nigel Bates, when his actor Paul Bradley opted to leave. After a ten year...
. He reacts with fury when he realises Nigel is seeing Debbie and bullies Nigel and Debbie in an attempt to split them up. Eventually, Liam is firghtened away by Grant. Nigel and Debbie marry in 1994 and are happy until 1995, when Debbie is killed in a hit and run
Hit and run (vehicular)
Hit-and-run is the act of causing a traffic accident , and failing to stop and identify oneself afterwards...
accident. Nigel is devastated for some time. Liam returns and fights Nigel for custody of Clare but is unsuccessful because of his history of violent behaviour towards Debbie; Nigel legally adopts her.
Following a long period of mourning, Nigel grows close to Lorraine Wicks
Lorraine Wicks
Lorraine Wicks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jacqueline Leonard between 1996 and 1997.-Storylines:...
and attempts to ignite a relationship. This goes awry as Lorraine does not return Nigel's romantic feelings and is instead attracted to Grant, which deeply hurts Nigel. In 1997, he meets Julie Haye
Julie Haye
Julie Haye is a fictional character that appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders between 1997 and 1998, played by Karen Henthorn. Julie was a love interest for the popular character Nigel Bates. After "a whirlwind affair", the couple left the soap together for a new life in...
, Clare's school teacher, who occasionally dropped in to Nigel's video shop to rent French films. Their friendship blossoms into romance but Nigel remain reticent believing he is tarnishing Debbie's honour. He almost loses Julie after she announces she is moving to Scotland, but on the night of her departure, Nigel sees sense and pledges his love for Julie and in April 1998, he and Clare leave Walford for Scotland to be with Julie and her son, Josh.
Dot occasionally visits Nigel off-screen. Clare returns to Walford in February 2008 to stay with Dot. Nigel is meant to visit her in July 2008, but does not arrive. This upsets Clare and she confides in Bradley Branning
Bradley Branning
Bradley Branning is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Charlie Clements. He made his first appearance on screen on 24 January 2006 and last appeared on 22 February 2010. Clements has won multiple awards for his portrayal....
that her and Nigel's relationship had become strained in her time away from Walford. According to Clare, Nigel had transferred his affections to Julie's son Josh as he struggled to cope with Clare's teenage dalliances. In October 2009, Pat reveals that Nigel had suffered a heart attack and Dot goes to visit him.
Creation and development
Nigel was one of several introductions occurring in 1992. Executive producer Leonard LewisLeonard Lewis
Leonard Jack Lewis was a British producer and director. He was most active in television. He was the Executive/Series Producer for BBC's EastEnders during the early 1990s, though he had success with many other television programmes for both the BBC and ITV...
took a tentative approach to introducing new characters in 1992. Most were introduced gradually, making an initial appearance and then joining the programme full-time a couple of months later. This allowed the producers and writers to create new characters and see them brought to life by the actors before committing them to a longer contract. Characters introduced in this way included Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter
Mandy Salter is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Nicola Stapleton. Introduced on 12 March 1992, Mandy was portrayed as a teenage tearaway. She was featured in storylines about homelessness, child and drug abuse. Her relationship with Aidan Brosnan was one of the...
(Nicola Stapleton
Nicola Stapleton
Nicola Kathleen Stapleton is an English actress. Stapleton began her career at an early age. She is most famous for her work on British television, in particular her roles as Mandy Salter in BBC's EastEnders and Janine Nebeski in ITV's Bad Girls.-Early life:Stapleton grew up off East Street, which...
), Christine Hewitt
Christine Hewitt
Christine Hewitt is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Elizabeth Power. Introduced in 1992 as a lonely divorcée who became besotted with married Arthur Fowler while he tended her garden...
(Lizzie Power) and Nigel Bates, played by Paul Bradley
Paul Bradley (actor)
Paul Bradley is an English actor. He is best known for playing Nigel Bates in the BBC1 soap opera EastEnders from 1992 to 1998 and Elliot Hope in the BBC medical drama series Holby City since 2005....
.
Nigel first appeared in March 1992 as a friend of established characters Grant
Grant Mitchell (EastEnders)
Grant Anthony Mitchell is a fictional character from the British soap opera EastEnders, played by Ross Kemp. Grant first appeared in 1990, introduced by producer Michael Ferguson to revamp the show. Kemp remained until 1999 when he opted to leave...
(Ross Kemp
Ross Kemp
Ross James Kemp is a BAFTA award-winning British actor, author and journalist, who rose to prominence in the role of Grant Mitchell in the BBC soap opera, EastEnders...
) and Phil Mitchell
Phil Mitchell
Philip James "Phil" Mitchell is a long-running fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Steve McFadden.Phil first arrived in Albert Square on 20 February 1990, and was soon joined by his brother, Grant, sister Sam and mother Peggy...
(Steve McFadden
Steve McFadden
Steve McFadden is an English actor, known for his role as Phil Mitchell in the BBC soap opera EastEnders, which he has played since1990.-Early life:...
), when he came to Walford and bought Frank Butcher
Frank Butcher
Francis Aloysius "Frank" Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by the late Mike Reid. Frank made his first appearance on-screen as a guest character in 1987 but, due to a positive viewer reception, he was reintroduced in 1988 as a regular. Reid took a long...
's (Mike Reid
Mike Reid (entertainer)
Michael Reid was an English comedian, actor, author and occasional television presenter from Hackney in east London, who is best remembered for playing the role of Frank Butcher in EastEnders and hosting the popular children's TV show Runaround...
) Mercedes
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
. After a successful first appearance, Nigel moved to the soap's setting permanently later in the year following the death of his mother and became the lodger of Dot Cotton (June Brown
June Brown
June Muriel Brown, MBE is a British actress, best known for her role as the busy-body, chain-smoking gossip Dot Cotton in the long-running British soap opera EastEnders and for making other high profile television appearances on shows such as Doctor Who, Coronation Street, Minder, The Bill and...
).
Paul Bradley has discussed his casting in Larry Jaffee's book, Albert Square & Me: The Actors of Eastenders, conducted in 1994: "I was only supposed to do three episodes and I think they just liked the character. Nigel is kind of light and funny and arrived just after Gill [Fowler] had died of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and the show was accused of being a bit gloomy. I came back for one more episode and then I've been back ever since."
Bradley has described Nigel as "harmless and amiable ... I suppose he's a bit of a wallie. Nigel is very well-meaning. He was best mates at school with Phil and Grant. Where they would use their fists, he would use jokes to get out of trouble." Author Kate Lock has described him as "a lovely, lovely man with two flaws: his inability to say 'no' to a fry-up and his faith in Grant Mitchell." Lock suggested that Nigel and Grant were diametrically opposed personalities. Lock added, "Nigel was overweight, shy, had the world's worst taste in shirts and ties and sported a mop of shaggy curls reminiscent of 70s footballers, so it wasn't often he found success with the opposite sex, although women were drawn to his gentleness and humour more than he realised." Author Rupert Smith classified Nigel as a "soft touch" character, the type of characters who were "permenently confused, sexually bungling men [...] These poor souls exist to be trampled, disappointed and taken for a ride by any crook or schemer that crosses their path."
In 1993, two characters central to Nigel's narrative were introduced: A love-interest Debbie Tyler
Debbie Bates
Debbie Bates is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by actress Nicola Duffett from 1993 to 1995. She was introduced as a love-interest for Nigel Bates, but was killed-off in 1995 on Duffett's request.-Storylines:Debbie first appears in Walford in May 1993 as a friend...
(Nicola Duffett
Nicola Duffett
Nicola Duffett is an English actress.She remains best known for two long-running soap opera roles. After appearing as Debbie Bates in EastEnders from 1993 to 1995, she went into the role of boozy floozie Cat Matthews in Family Affairs...
) and her daughter Clare (Gemma Bissix
Gemma Bissix
Gemma Bissix is an English actress. She has been acting since the age of 9. Her most prominent roles have been in soap operas, as Clare Bates in EastEnders and Clare Devine in Hollyoaks ; she was awarded with two British Soap Awards for the latter role...
). Their introduction stemmed around a storyline focusing on spousal abuse, when it was revealed that Debbie was being abused by her estranged husband Liam Tyler (Francis Magee). Nigel and Debbie's eventual marriage was the focus of EastEnders
Colin Brake
Colin Brake is an English television writer and script editor best known for his work for the BBC on programs such as Bugs and EastEnders. He has also written spin-offs from the BBC series Doctor Who...
has selected it as 1994's episode of the year. Off-screen the show's Series Producer Barbara Emile
Barbara Emile
Barbara Emile is a British television producer. Emile contributed to the BBC soap opera EastEnders for several years. She first started working on the serial as script editor underneath producer Leonard Lewis, and she began producing the programme in 1992. Following the departure of Lewis in 1994,...
decided to mark the 1000th episode with a celebration and the wedding of Nigel and Debbie was chosen as the event. It was scripted to be a happy occasion in the soap, with Debbie and Nigel's ceremony going ahead despite threats of intrusion from Liam. The Bateses happiness was short-lived on-screen, as in 1995, Debbie's actress Nicola Duffet requested to be written out of the soap; Debbie was killed off in the serial leaving Nigel a grieving widower, fighting for custody of his step daughter, Clare.
In December 1996, it was announced that Bradley decided to quit EastEnders for fear of being typecast as a nerd and "lovable loser". He was the third senior cast member to quit in as space of two months, following the announced departures of Jacqueline Leonard
Jacqueline Leonard
Jacqueline Leonard is an English television, film and theatre actress.Best known for her appearances in long-running British television shows, she played Lorraine Wicks in the London-based soap opera EastEnders, and also appeared in the Glasgow-based soap River City as gangster's wife Lydia...
and Paul Nicholls
Paul Nicholls
Paul Nicholls is an English actor.-Career in TV:Nicholls made his TV debut in 1989, at the age of 10, in Children's Ward. In 1994 he appeared in the BBC children's drama Earthfasts and The Biz, a teenage performing arts drama filmed at Hampton Court...
who played Lorraine
Lorraine Wicks
Lorraine Wicks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Jacqueline Leonard between 1996 and 1997.-Storylines:...
and Joe Wicks
Joe Wicks
Joe Wicks is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Paul Nicholls. He appeared on screen between 25 March 1996 and 14 November 1997. EastEnders was praised for the character's portrayal of schizophrenia.-Storylines:...
. Bradley said, "I have made a decision about leaving EastEnders and I have told the BBC about it. I know it is regular work and you are in the public eye, but it is time to move on. Much as I love playing Nigel, I would not like people to think that was all I did. I did a lot of work before EastEnders and I will after. I don't want to be like some people who've been in [ITV soap opera] Coronation Street
Coronation Street
Coronation Street is a British soap opera set in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester based on Salford. Created by Tony Warren, Coronation Street was first broadcast on 9 December 1960...
for 20 years - I'm much too restless." A BBC insider commented, "It's a real blow that Paul wants to go, but we hope that he doesn't close the door altogether. It's very worrying that so much of the top talent is wanting out of Albert Square."
The character remained on-screen until April 1998 and was given a "happy ending", leaving to begin a new life with a new found love Julie Haye
Julie Haye
Julie Haye is a fictional character that appeared in the BBC soap opera EastEnders between 1997 and 1998, played by Karen Henthorn. Julie was a love interest for the popular character Nigel Bates. After "a whirlwind affair", the couple left the soap together for a new life in...
(Karen Henthorn
Karen Henthorn
Karen Henthorn is a British character actress who portrayed the role of Teresa Bryant in the long-running British soap opera Coronation Street. She appeared in the role briefly in 2007 and became a regular character in 2008. Her character was involved in major story lines. In late 2008, she left...
), allowing for a future return. Henthorn has suggested that because Nigel was "such a popular character", and because he had such an unsuccessful love life throughout the course of the show, the producers of EastEnders felt that the viewing public would not want him to have anything other than a "happy ending".